that Tamerlane, the great Tartarian prince, intended shortly to warre upon him. Yet could not this peace be obtained, but upon condition that the emperor should grant free libertie for the Turks to dwell together in one STREET of Constantinople, with free exercise of their owne religion and lawes, vnder a judge of their owne nation; and further, to pay vnto the Turkish king a yerely tribute of ten thousand duckats, which dishonourable conditions the distressed emperor was glad to accept of. So was this long seige broken vp, and presently a great sort of Turks with their families were sent out of Bythinia, to dwell in Constantinople, and a church there built for them; which not long after was by the Emperor pulled downe to the ground, and the Turks againe driuen out of the citie, at such time as Biazet was by the mightie Tamerlane overthrowne and taken prisoner."

No. 122.

KNOLLES'S History of the Turks, p. 206.

xxi. 8. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal.] The very ancient custom of sealing dispatches with a scal or signet, set in a ring, is still retained in the East. PоCOCKE says, (Travels, vol. i. p. 186. notes) "in Egypt they make the impression of their name with their seal, generally of cornelian, which they wear on their finger, and which is blacked when they have occasion to seal with it." HANWAY remarks (Trav. i. 317.) that "the Persian ink serves not only for writing, but for subscribing with their seal; indeed many of the Persians in high office could not write. In their rings they wear agates, which serve for a seal, on which is frequently engraved their name, and some verse from the Koran." SHAW also has a remark exactly to the same purpose.

Travels, p. 247.

No. 123. xxi. 23. The dogs shall eat Jezebel.] Mr. BRUCE, when at Gondar, was witness to a scene in a

great measure similar to the devouring of Jezebel by dogs. He says, "the bodies of those killed by the sword were hewn to pieces, and scattered about the streets, being denied burial. I was miserable, and almost driven to despair, at seeing my hunting-dogs, twice let loose by the carelessness of my servants, bringing into the court-yard the heads and arms of slaughtered men, and which I could no way prevent, but by the destruction of the dogs themselves." He also adds, that upon being asked by the king the reason of his dejected and sickly appearance, among other reasons, he informed him, "it was occasioned by an execution of three men, which he had lately seen; because the hyænas, allured into the streets by the quantity of carrion, would not let him pass by night in safety from the palace, and because the dogs filed into his house, to eat pieces of human carcases at their leisure." Travels, vol. iv. p. 81. This account illustrates also the readiness of the dogs to lick the blood of Ahab, 1 Kings xxii. 38. in perfect conformity to which is the expression of the prophet Jeremiah, xv. 3. I will appoint over them the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear.

No. 124.-2 KINGS i. 4.

Down from that bed.

THIS expression may be illustrated by what SHAW says of the Moorish houses in Barbary (Travels, p. 209.) where, after having observed that their chambers are spacious, of the same length with the square court on the sides of which they are built, he adds, " at one end of each chamber there is a little gallery raised three, four, or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade in the front of it, with a few steps likewise leading up to it. Here they place their beds; a situation frequently alluded to in the holy scriptures, which may likewise illustrate the circumstance of Hezekiah's turning his face, when he prayed, towards the wall, (i. e. from his attendants) 2 Kings xx. 26 that the fervency of his devotion might be the less taken notice of and observed. The like is related of Ahab, 1 Kings xxi. 4. though probably he did thus, not upon a religious account, but in order to conceal from his attendants the anguish he was in for his late disappoint

ment.

No. 125.-iii. 11. Who poured water on the hands of Elijah.] This was a part of the service which Elisha performed to his master. We read of it in other instances. PITTS tells us, (p. 24.) "the table being removed, before they rise (from the ground whereon they sit) a servant, who stands attending on them with a cup of water to give them drink, steps into the middle, with a bason, or copper pot of water, somewhat like a coffeepot, and a little soap, and lets the water run upon their hands one after another, in order as they sit." Mr. HANWAY, Speaking of a Persian supper, says, (Trav.

vol. i. p. 223.) " supper being now brought in, a servant presented a bason of water, and a napkin hung over his shoulders; he went to every one in the company, and poured water on their hands to wash." See also Homer Odyss. iv. 216. Virgil, Æn. i. line 705.

No. 126.-iii. 17. Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain.] Rain is often in the East preceded by a squall of wind. The editor of the Ruins of Palmyra tells us, that they seldom have rain except at the equinoxes, and that nothing could be more serene than the sky all the time he was there, except one afternoon, when there was a small shower, preceded by a whirlwind, which took up such quantities of sand from the desert as quite darkened the sky. (p. 37.) Thus Elisha told the king of Israel, ye shall not see wind nor rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water. The circumstance of the wind taking up such a quantity of sand as to darken the sky may serve to explain 1 Kings xviii. 45. The heaven was black with clouds and wind. The wind's prognosticating of rain is also referred to Prov. xxv. 14. whoso boasteth himself of a false gift, pretending to give something valuable, and disappointing the expectation, is like clouds and wind without rain.

HARMER, vol. i. p. 54.

No. 127.-iii. 25. Felled the good trees.]

In times

of war it was formerly very common for one party to injure the other by destroying their valuable trees. Thus the Moabites were punished, and thus the Arabs of the Holy Land still make war upon each other, burning the corn, cutting down the olive trees, &c.

HASSELQUIST, Trav. p. 143.

No. 128. iii. 27. He took his eldest son and offered kim for a burnt offering.] Sir John Shore, (now Lord

Teignmouth) in a paper concerning some extraordinary customs of the Hindoos, mentions a practice called dherna, formerly very common at Benares. 'It is used by the brahmens in that city to gain a point which cannot be accomplished by any other means. The progress is as follows: the brahmen who adopts this expedient for the purpose mentioned, proceeds to the door or house of the person against whom it is directed, or wherever he may most conveniently intercept him: he there sits down in dherna, with poison, or a poignard, or some other instrument of suicide in his hand, and threatening to use it if his adversary should attempt to molest or pass him, he thus completely arrests him. In this situation the brahmen fasts, and by the rigour of the etiquette, which is rarely infringed, the unfor tunate object of his arrest ought to fast also; and thus they both remain until the institutor of the dherna obtains satisfaction. In this, as he seldom makes the attempt without resolution to persevere, he rarely fails; for if the party thus arrested were to suffer the brahmen sitting in dherna to perish by hunger, the sin would for ever lie upon his head." (Asiatic Researches, vol. iv. p. 344.) This custom is there exemplified by a remarkable instance in which it was practised. The reason why the king of Moab offered his son on the wall was to represent to the attacking armies to what straits they had reduced him. If any practice of a nature similar to that of the dherna formerly prevailed, we may suppose that the king of Moab did not in this case merely implore assistance from his gods by the sacrifice of his son, but took this method of terrifying his adversaries, after his own personal valour had proved inef fectual to deliver himself and his country.

"To most of

No. 129. iv. 10. A little chamber.] these houses there is a smaller one annexed, which